1. YOU have sent me back my volumes, and I shall hold them in greater
esteem owing to your judgment. I have therefore sent you others, not so
much because I was delighted at wishing for your favourable judgment,
as of that truth which I have asked and you have promised to declare
to me; for should any thing strike you I would rather it had the
correction of your judgment before it goes abroad beyond the power of
recal, than that you should praise what is blamed by others. It is on
this account that I have requested to have your opinion of those things
which you asked me to write, for I have not so much desired that what
I publish from time to time should be read by you, as that they should
be submitted to the account which your judgment shall take of them. And
this judgment, as one said of old, will not require[232] a long sitting
and delay. For surely it is easy for you to judge of my writings.
2. Thus far, on your invitation, I have thought it right to proceed; it
is now your part to discern clearly and examine carefully what requires
correction, that you may thus escape being inculpated in those faults
which may have stolen unawares upon myself. For somehow over and above
that want of caution which envelops me as with a mist, every one is
beguiled in what he himself writes, and its faults escape his ear.
And as a man takes pleasure in his children even though deformed, so
also is a writer flattered by his own discourses however ungraceful.
How frequently are words put forth uncautiously or understood less
charitably than one means; or some ambiguity escapes from us; things,
moreover, which are to be subjected to the judgment of others we
ought to weigh not so much by our own as by another’s opinion, and
to separate from it every grain of malevolence.
3. Be so kind therefore as to lend an ear of keen attention, peruse
the whole thoroughly, test my discourses, see whether they contain, not
rhetorical charms and persuasive words, but a sound faith and a sober
confession. Affix a mark on words of doubtful weight and which are
deceitful in the scales, that the adversary may not make out any thing
to tell in his favour. Let him meet with defeat if he enters into the
contest. That book is in a bad condition, which cannot be defended
without a champion; for a book which goes forth without a mediator has
to speak for itself; my book however shall not go forth from me, unless
it receive authority from you. When then you bid it go forth, and give
your word for it, let it be left to its own keeping.
Sidenote: 1 Cor. iv. 20.
Sidenote: S. Matt. xxviii. 19.
Sidenote: Col. ii. 9.
Sidenote: Phil. ii. 7, 8.
4. But, since _the kingdom of God is not in word but in power_, if a
word offend you consider the _power_ of its profession. By profession
I mean that decision of faith which we hold, as handed down by our
fathers, against the Sabellians and Arians, that we worship God the
Father and His Only-begotten Son and the Holy Spirit, that this Trinity
is of one Substance Majesty and Divinity; that in this _Name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost_, we _baptize_, as it is
written; that the Son, co-eternal with the Father, took upon Him our
flesh, born of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary, equal to the
Father as touching His Godhead, in the form of God, that is, in all
the fulness of the Godhead Which _dwells in Him_, as the Apostle says,
_bodily_; Who, in the person of man, _took upon Him the form of a
servant, and humbled Himself even unto death_.
Sidenote: Heb. vi. 18.
5. Wherefore as against Photinus this is our sentence, and as against
Apollinaris it is also a proper safeguard; our confession, namely,
that as in the form of God He lacked nothing of the Divine nature and
fulness, so in that human form there was nothing wanting in Him so
as to cause Him to be judged imperfect as Man; for He came in order
to save man altogether. Truly it would not have been fitting that He
Who had accomplished a perfect work in others should suffer it to be
imperfect in Himself; for if aught was wanting to Him as Man, then He
did not redeem the whole man, and if He did not redeem the whole man,
He deceived us, for He said that He had come in order to save the whole
man. But since it is _impossible for God to lie_, He deceived us not;
wherefore, seeing that He came to redeem and save the whole man, He
took upon Him the whole of that which belonged to human perfection.
6. Such, as you will remember, is my belief. Should my words in any
passage raise a doubt, still they will not raise any prejudice as to
my faith, for if the mind continue stedfast, it extends its protection
over ambiguous language, and preserves it from error.
7. This preface then I send you, and will insert it, if you please, in
the books of our letters, and place it among their number; that so it
may be recommended by your name, and by our letters to each other our
mutual love in the Lord, may be increased: that, finally, you may so
read as to give me your judgment, and to communicate to me whatever may
strike you, for true love is proved by constancy. For the present we
have chosen that which old men find more easy, the writing of letters
in ordinary and familiar language: subjoining, should such present
itself, any appropriate passage from the sacred Scriptures. Farewell,
my brother, and love one who is your lover, for I greatly love you.
LETTER XLIX.
A.D. 390.
S. AMBROSE says that he never feels less solitary, than when by
himself writing to a friend. He then dwells on the benefit of
solitude; especially in that we may then have God present with
us, and lay open our souls to Him.